IFMCA Award Winners 2011

JOHN WILLIAMS WINS FIVE AWARDS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS INCLUDING SCORE OF THE YEAR FOR “WAR HORSE”

FEBRUARY 23, 2012 – The International Film Music Critics Association announces the winners of its eighth annual awards for excellence in musical scoring in 2011 with John Williams’ score for Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE topping the list, winning Film Score of the Year, Best Score for a Drama Film and Individual Cue for “The Homecoming.” Williams also wins Composer of the Year and Best Score for an Animated Film for THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN. French composer Ludovic Bource wins Breakout Composer of the Year for his score to THE ARTIST.

Cliff Martinez wins Best Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film for Nicolas Winding Refn’s DRIVE. Best Score for a Comedy Film is given to THE RUM DIARY by Christopher Young. Michael Giacchino wins his 11th career award for JJ Abrams’ SUPER 8 in the Best Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film category. Turkish composer Pinar Toprak wins Best Score for a Documentary Film for her score to THE WIND GODS.

In the non-film categories, Arnau Bataller wins Best Score for a Television Series for the Spanish telenovela ERMESSENDA. Veteran Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi wins Best Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the Level-5 / Studio Ghibli game NI NO KUNI: WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH.

The Best Archival Release goes to the massive Warner Bros sixteen-disc, retrospective box-set THE DANNY ELFMAN & TIM BURTON 25TH ANNIVERSARY MUSIC BOX, which was housed in a Zoetrope box and included an exclusive historical book. The winner of Best Archival Re-recording goes to conductor William Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra for their re-recording of Bernard Herrmann’s THE BATTLE OF NERETVA and THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. Best Record Label of the Year goes to La-La Land Records, their second win in a row in this category, for such notable 2011 expanded release soundtracks as 1941, SPACE ABOVE AND BEYOND, FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY, COMMANDO and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION COLLECTION VOLUME 1.

The Association is also bestowing a Special Award to SYMPHONY OF HOPE: THE HAITI PROJECT, a benefit recording collaboration between 25 film and TV composers, including John Debney, Christopher Young, Dave Grusin, Marvin Hamlisch, and Christopher Lennertz who produced with Steve Schnur. The recording is available as a download on itunes and Amazon among other outlets with proceeds going to Haiti Earthquake Relief. More information can be found at www.haitisymphony.com.

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2011 Film Categories

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

WAR HORSE, music by John Williams

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

JOHN WILLIAMS

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

LUDOVIC BOURCE

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

WAR HORSE, music by John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

THE RUM DIARY, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM

DRIVE, music by Cliff Martinez

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM

SUPER 8, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN, music by John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

THE WIND GODS, music by Pinar Toprak

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

WAR HORSE – “The Homecoming” (John Williams)

2011 Non-Film Categories

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

ERMESSENDA, music by Arnau Bataller

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

NI NO KUNI: WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH, music by Joe Hisaishi

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE

THE DANNY ELFMAN & TIM BURTON 25TH ANNIVERSARY MUSIC BOX, music by Danny Elfman; album produced by Danny Elfman and Tim Burton; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Danny Elfman; album art direction by Matt Taylor (Warner Bros Records)

BEST ARCHIVAL RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

THE BATTLE OF NERETVA/THE NAKED AND THE DEAD, music by Bernard Herrmann; conducted by William Stromberg; album produced by William Stromberg, John Morgan and Anna Bonn; liner notes by Jim Doherty and Kevin Scott; album art direction by Jim Titus (Tribute Film Classics)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

LA-LA LAND RECORDS

SPECIAL AWARD

A SYMPHONY OF HOPE: THE HAITI PROJECT

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The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music.

The IFMCA was originally formed in the late 1990s as the now-defunct “Film Music Critics Jury” by editor and journalist Mikael Carlsson, a former contributor to filmmusicradio.com and filmmusicmag.com, and currently the owner of the Swedish independent film music label MovieScore Media.

Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise over 50 members from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to John Powell’s HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON in 2010, Michael Giacchino’s UP in 2009, Alexandre Desplat’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON in 2008, Dario Marianelli’s ATONEMENT in 2007, James Newton Howard’s LADY IN THE WATER in 2006, John Williams’ MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and Michael Giacchino’s THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.

For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association, its members and the list of past awards, please visit http://www.filmmusiccritics.org or contact press@filmmusiccritics.org.